


Rebuilding

by Lenny9987



Series: Post Written in My Own Heart's Blood Speculation/Wish-List [2]
Category: Outlander Series - Diana Gabaldon
Genre: Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-20
Updated: 2016-01-20
Packaged: 2018-05-15 04:52:07
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,287
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5772031
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lenny9987/pseuds/Lenny9987
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Part of my Post Written in My Own Heart's Blood Speculation/Wish-List series. </p>
<p>Gifts are exchanged during the MacKenzies' first Christmas back on the Ridge.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Rebuilding

**Author's Note:**

> Prompted fic from Tumblr where it was part of my Fanfic for the Holidays push.
> 
> "Anonymous said: For your holiday blog could you write a little something where maybe Claire has a surprise gift for Jaime. Maybe she made it, maybe she was given it as a payment for her healing and wanted to give it to Jaime… whatever you feel like writing. Love the writing you share with us! Thank you."

Mandy and Jem were busy playing on the floor with their new toys. Well, calling them toys was a bit generous - Claire wouldn’t consider the hunting knife Jem was using to strip the bark from a thick stick a _toy_. But he certainly appreciated it and jumped up to show anyone and everyone the handle Jamie had fashioned for it and how it matched the ones Jamie had made for Germain and Roger. 

Mandy’s doll Esmeralda had acquired a new friend and she had the two of them gathering and grinding herbs ‘like Gran.’ The new doll had dark curls that were more akin to Mandy’s than Claire’s, which were less agreeable than Mandy’s and heavily streaked with grey. Fanny played with Mandy, while reaching up to her hair to feel the new ribbons that had been her Christmas gift. Though she was some years older than Mandy, Fanny hadn’t had an easy childhood but seemed to be making up for it since Mandy’s arrival, ostensibly acting as the younger girl’s babysitter - or an older sister. 

Brianna had received new tools for her ambitious engineering projects. In the weeks they’d been back, Brianna had frequently lamented the loss of so many of their tools and possessions, many the victims of the fire that had destroyed the first big house on the Ridge. 

Rebuilding things would take time but they were all together again and that was what mattered - it also made the burden of rebuilding easier when there were more to share it with. Jem and Germain had quickly reconnected and both had helped with the construction of the new house (completed just a few short weeks after the MacKenzies’ return) and were eager to help with Brianna and Roger’s house, come spring - Brianna had drawn up plans for that house along with a multitude of other projects including rebuilding her kiln which had fallen into disrepair during her absence. Of course, none of her proposed projects could feasibly begin until the snows had melted. 

Jamie and Claire had settled back to watch the others enjoy their gifts, Jamie with his arm wrapped around Claire, Claire with her head resting against his shoulder. She was about ready to fall asleep where she sat when he gave her a light shake. 

“Sassenach,” he whispered. “Ye canna fall asleep on me yet. I’ve not given ye yer present yet.”

She sat up and yawned, covering her mouth. “It isn’t another knife, is it? I still have the last one you made me.”

Jamie chuckled and rose slowly from his seat, his knees cracking as he straightened them. “Not a knife,” he assured her, reaching for her hand to help pull her up.

“Are you two headed to bed already?” Brianna asked, glancing up from some sketches she had spread out on the table. 

“Aye,” Jamie told her. “Watchin’ the lot of them there is exhausting. Ye’ll make sure they all get to bed at a decent hour,” he advised. Brianna, Roger, Jem, and Mandy had been staying in the new house with Jamie, Claire, Germain, and Fanny since their arrival. There was a lot of room in the house but that many bodies was pushing the limits - still, cramped quarters it would remain through the winter. 

“Ah huh,” Brianna agreed inattentively, her mind already returning to the plans before her. 

Jamie shot a quick glance to Roger who nodded, then Jamie led Claire upstairs to their room.

It was laid out much like their room in the house that had burned only a bit larger. In addition to Claire’s vanity there was a small table next to Jamie’s chair, since he’d started reading upstairs in the evenings rather than risk falling asleep at his desk in his study - it had happened once and he’d awoken late in the night with a back and legs too stiff to successfully climb the stairs leaving him (and everyone who encountered him) miserable the next day.

Jamie moved straight to the trunk where he kept his things while Claire bent to stoke the fire and add a little light to the room - most of what there was to see by (aside from the candle they’d brought up) was moonlight streaming through the window. 

Jamie noisily lifted the lid of his trunk and began rooting through the contents until he came out with a small canvas bag. 

“For you,” he said, holding it out for her. 

Intrigued by Jamie’s proud smile and eager eyes, Claire reached in and pulled the items out one at a time - a silver-backed brush, a matching hand-mirror, and a set of silver hair combs. 

“Jamie,” she remarked breathlessly as she turned them around in her hands to see the details etched into them. 

“The brush ye have is growing sparse,” he explained, reaching for the combs. “I ken ye have a mirror but they came as a set and I thought ye might like one this size if ye ever need something handy in yer surgery. As for these,” he said of the combs, “they’re no so fancy as what I’d like te get fer ye - no jeweled or anything - but they’ll do for when we have _grand_ occasions here.” He settled one comb into the hair on either side of her head and then held the hand mirror so she could see them.

“Jamie, they’re beautiful.”

“I wanted  thistles te match yer ring but these were the closest I could find.” 

The designs were floral - clusters of small five-petalled flowers with a few elongated and veined leaves. In the moonlight from the window, the silver took on a bluish hue, putting Claire in mind of forget-me-nots or periwinkle flowers - though the leaves of the latter were usually shorter and more curved while their petals were more squared off than those on the combs. 

“Thank you,” Claire said, running her fingers over the delicate etchings before reaching up to pull Jamie in for a quick kiss. “Now… it’s my turn. I’ll be right back.”

She set the brush and mirror down on her vanity and scurried out the bedroom door to retrieve his gift from its hiding place in her surgery. She found him waiting with a furrowed brow as she presented him with a small rectangular package. It was wrapped in one of his handkerchiefs and tied together with twine.

“Did ye bring a blade to help me get into it?” He teased, his fingers pulling at the knot. It came undone easily and the handkerchief fell away revealing a brown leather-bound volume with gold-leaf detailing along the binding and edges. He turned it over in his hands to read the title printed along the binding - it was a volume of Catullus in the original Latin. 

“The last time we visited with Fergus and Marsali, I saw it in a shop and simply had to get it for you for your library,” Claire explained. “You had so many books before and haven’t been able to rebuild it as quickly as I know you would have liked-”

He cut her off with a kiss, resting his forehead against hers while she caught her breath again afterwards. “Thank ye, Sassenach.”

“Merry Christmas,” Claire replied. 

“Aye. Merry Christmas,” he repeated.

“Will you read to me?”

He nodded, moving to his chair while she pulled hers over to sit beside him. He held the book so he could read by the combined light from the candle and revitalized fireplace, his fingers skimming the contents until he found the poem he was looking for - both their eyes catching on the familiar words further down the page. Claire rubbed her thumb along the silver ring on her right hand.

“Vivamus, mea Lesbia…” Jamie began.


End file.
